My first learning experience about "What is a Chamber" was when our fourth grade class had a history project where each student's task was to contact a chamber of commerce of their choice to gather information about the city... demographics, history, businesses, points of interest, etc. Our family was living in Boise, Idaho at the time, and I decided to report on Sacramento. Little did I know at the time, but my father would be offered a position in the San Francisco Bay Area, and we would be California bound two years later. Well, the Sacramento Chamber of Commerce sent me an envelope filled with valuable information about their fair city, and my written report received an A.

Throughout the centuries, perhaps as long as commerce has existed, traders have banded together. Our State Chamber will probably give you the following definition: A Chamber of Commerce is a voluntary federation of the business community uniting the efforts of business and professional individuals to ensure a healthy economic and socio-economic base to benefit the entire community.

The Chamber of Commerce harnesses the tremendous potential of the private enterprise system and enables its membership to accomplish collectively what no one could do individually.

Since 1957, the Milpitas Chamber of Commerce has been working to promote and enhance the commercial, professional, economic and educational well being of Milpitas. If you look at some of our chamber newsletters, 'Panorama,' on our website, you'll see the Milpitas Chamber has an active calendar for the membership.

Our program of work offers networking opportunities, educational workshops, trade shows, retail promotions, candidate forums, advocacy, community events, business counseling, and a resource center where people can either gather information from the chamber or be connected with another organization or entity to fulfill their quest. Before the internet, you would always call the chamber first when you were requesting information about a city and the surrounding area. Also, addressing legislative issues is one of the most important missions of the chamber.

You will also notice that our chamber forges partnerships with other chambers and trade associations to present programs that the Board feels is beneficial to the community. We are presently working with the Milpitas Firefighters on their annual toy and food drive in December.